"In the Future, Wargaming Will... (Round 2)" Topic

I'm punting. Almost everything on that list is a reasonable guess, depending on how you define "wargaming" and how far you go into the future. The two I have my doubts about are "cost more" and "look much like today."

It doesn't cost anything today, and I see no reason for this to change. Yes, some of us will spend a ton of money. I've bought custom dice and sweet-talked manufacturers into new ranges myself. But you can raise two armies and terrain for $200 USD if you're careful and sometimes under $100. USD More than a chess set, but have you priced bicycles, golf clubs and tennis rackets lately?

As for looking much like it does today. dig up photos of old games. I don't expect it to look the same in the future because it never has.

We're talking about different hobbies.
Many of the choices are along the lines of:
In the future, stamp collecting will be replaced by collecting email addresses.
In the future, horse racing will be replaced with cgi animation.

Will painting Miniatures be replaced with …. whatever? Then it will be a different hobby. It will not be what I do. I fight imaginary battles with painted toy soldiers that I have mostly painted myself. If any of that changes, then it will be a different hobby.

So Winston, if you fight a battle which is not imaginary, or if your opponent purchase-painted his figures, you've wandered into a different hobby? Might want to give yourself a little more slack.

Nonsense.
If "in the future", all games are computer moderated, and it's not played with painted Miniatures but some "other" construct, then it's not the same hobby.

A miniature just says its a small representation of the original. If it's 3d printed, or a holographic representation, then it's still playing wargames with historical miniatures.

I can see historical gaming to continue to evolve into a separate hobby. As far as I am concern they already are two distant hobbies. For some reason this is much harder to accept among non-historical players and I don't really know why. But bet on it. It is happening.

This is a cheap hobby and I expect it to stay that way adjusted for inflation. Prices will go up but it still will be a cheap hobby to get into.